Wave Issue 0204 2/08/02 Article 1-03

***FCC Releases Report on the Availability of High-Speed and
Advanced Telecommunications Capability
(February 7)

Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its
third report on the availability of advanced telecommunications
capability services, concluding that advanced telecommunications
capability is being deployed in a reasonable and timely manner.
The report, which includes data through June 30, 2001, showed
that the advanced telecommunications services market continued to
grow, and that the availability of and subscribership to high-
speed services increased significantly, to nearly ten million
subscribers. Additionally, the report noted that although
investment trends in general have slowed recently, investment in
infrastructure for advanced telecommunications remains strong.

This is the FCC's third inquiry, as required by Congress, into
whether "advanced telecommunications capability" is being
deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.
Advanced telecommunications capability is the availability of
high-speed, switched, broadband telecommunications that enables
users to originate and receive high-quality voice, data,
graphics, and video using any technology platform.

As with previous reports, the FCC uses the term "advanced
telecommunications capability" to describe services and
facilities with an upstream (customer-to-provider) and downstream
(provider-to-customer) transmission speed exceeding 200 kilobits
per second (kbps). The FCC uses the term "high-speed" for those
services with over 200 kbps capability in at least one direction.
The term high-speed services includes advanced telecommunications
capability.

The data in the report is gathered largely from standardized
information from providers of advanced telecommunications
capability including wireline telephone companies, cable
providers, wireless providers, satellite providers, and any other
facilities-based providers of 250 or more high-speed service
lines (or wireless channels) in a given state.

A report summary and links to the report and commissioner
comments can be found at:

www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/2002/nrcc

0201.html